Petition to reinstate Canadian funding to UNRWA

Pétition pour rétablir le financement canadien à l’UNRWA

Whereas Canada voted in favour of the partition of Palestine in 1947, with UN General Assembly Resolution 181, which subsequently resulted in 700,000 Palestinians becoming refugees,

Whereas Canada voted in favour of UN General Assembly Resolution 302 (IV) of 1949, which established the “United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East” (UNRWA) to serve the needs of the Palestinian refugee population, until such time as their status is resolved,

Whereas the population of Palestinian refugees and their descendants has steadily increased since 1949, resulting in a current population of over 5,000,000 registered Palestinian refugees,

Whereas the Palestinian refugees remain stateless, as 1) Israel refuses to accept them back to their home communities, 2) host countries refuse to naturalize them, and 3) other countries’ refuse to accept them in large numbers,

Whereas UNRWA is known for the welfare and development services it provides to Palestinian refugees, especially for its schools and its health care,

Whereas Canada has historically contributed generously to both UNRWA’s permanent programs, as well as its emergency programs, to the tune of about $30 million through the mid-2000s,

Whereas Canada is the chair of the international Refugee Working Group (RWG) – established as part of the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP) of 1992 – which is called to improve the conditions of Palestinian refugees, and support a viable and comprehensive resolution to Palestinian refugee issue,

Whereas the Harper government reduced funding to UNRWA over several years, to the point where in 2014, Canada gave absolutely nothing to UNRWA,

Therefore, we the undersigned call the Canadian government to reinstate funding to UNRWA, to levels comparable to its historic levels, to fulfill Canada’s humanitarian commitment to the Palestinian refugee community, and to its international partners hosting these refugees.

Canada helped create Palestinian refugees by giving away their land. We now have a moral and legal obligation to save them from genocide by demanding Israel dismantle the world’s largest concentration camp in Gaza.